Stainburn yesterday

Went up for a little explore on Sunday – the trails are great fun and the red route is just at the edge of my technical capabilities – did it a few times, had a few falls, came away bruised and bloodied but happy.

The first drop in to the red route (almost immediately from the car park) is ace, as is the bermed section down through the log rides.

Loved it.

Couldn’t find the stuff over the road though, although to be fair I didn’t really have enough time to explore

Yeah, it’s good fun, I didn’t ‘get it’ the first few times and didn’t enjoy it that much but now just chill out and play on sections rather than trying to ride the whole thing continuously. Still don’t like the boulder trail though, probably ‘cos I’m not good enough 🙂

i like stainburn, keeps you going back for more and the more you ride it the more of it you can manage. i’m not good enough to do the black (boulder trail?) though; last time i tried it i bottled on most sections and found it too stoppy-starty but i think i’ll try it again next time i go. so addictive!

The last time I did the black (waaaayyyy beyond my competence level) I sumersualted upside down over my handlebars but amazingly although I landed on my back I landed on a bed of old leaves on the really steep sloping hill and narrowly missing a tree trunk.

I did go down the descent line yeah, the only bit i didn’t do was the big boulder drop off ‘cos there were some rad sick 40″ travel dudes sessioning it and I didn’t want them to watch me mincing down it. I’ll do it with practice though

The big rad 40″ travel dudes included Martin Ogden (Oggy) a Pro 4X rider sponsored by Hope. Although, if asked, he’d have likely happily given advice and help rather than take the Pish. But, not (potentially) making a fool of yourself infront of a group like that is understandable.

The big boulder drop is easily rolled off (which is what most people do), the parallel red ‘chiken run’ is more difficult IMO than just rolling off the boulder.

Like people above say, keep coming back and your slow speed skills and bike control will improve.

The original theory behind Stainburn was that it is such a small area that there was no point in building fast flowing trails as it would all be over in minutes. So it’s a sort of skills park (with bits of excitment in between) for sessioning and improving bike handling etc etc blah blah and there happened to be lots of rocks for the original builders to play with, which helps!. I’ve always found that a positive approach, punching the bike over stuff, helps big time.

And if ever you fall off your bike infront of a bunch of trail builders (like some unfortunate sod did on Sunday), remember, they are probably just very ‘ordinary’ MTBers like me! 😉

I know – I stopped and watched with some of the lads sessioning the boulder – bloody impressive it was too.

I’m going to be back up there loads I think – love the challenge of the trails, plus it seems to be a friendly old place too.

I’m not too concerned about falling off in front of people as you’ll see in a bit – just wasn’t ready for the boulder in the middle of the trail to be honest and then didn’t want to get in the way of them really going for it. Where were you lot building? I tried to find the Norwood trail but just ended up doing a David Bellamy through the undergrowth following a trail of yellow plastic. I’ll spend a bit more time next visit, and probably bring a few mates.

Pook – the yellow plastic will be a new line, but at the moment all it is is yellow tape and nothing on the ground. The trails over there did follow yellow paint markers on the trees but as felling work continues the markers are getting the chop.

Fun vid too. Well done for not giving up on that log ride. That is exactly the mentality you need to succeed at Stainburn.

The shore on the hill by the mast is very minimal. It was only put in to cover some boggy ground. I’m not sure how it will feature in the overall scheme of things once the new trails are agreed.

Teetosugars – you can’ go wrong from the car park on the black and red routes. Just keep an eye for the proper lines on the boulder trail though as some sections are getting bypassed which is begining to make them look like the correct line to take.
If you are riding on mud on the boulder trail then you are on the wrong line. It should either be hardpack, rock or timber, nothing else.

I was up there on Sunday with Oggy and Rob Young. I was the guy in black with the red Haro.Don’t ever feel embarrassed by not being able to ride or jump anything.The only time you’ll get abuse is if you come over all “freeride god” and can’t back it up.Asking the fast guys what to do will sometimes show you things you never even thought of.
Telling them how they should be doing it though will only make you look like a pratt!
Little Rob showed me a new way down the rocks after Hovis corner that I never would have taken had he not ripped down it before me!
I used to hate Stainburn because I didn’t “get it”.But now I realise its purpose it’s great……so great I spent Saturday and Sunday there this weekend!

Cheers Yoda – like i say, the boulder just caught me off guard! I was going to go back after you guys had dropped down the hill but was knackered after 4 or 5 laps then the climb back up the descent trail!

I’ll def be heading back up there at some point soon so if you lot are up there again I’d really welcome your input